France-headquartered Schneider Electric last week announced its boldest marketing move yet in the U.S., signing on as the first founding partner of the 20,000-seat, $375 million Las Vegas arena, scheduled to open in 2016 and being built by AEG and MGM. Chris Hummel, CMO for Schneider
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HUMMEL
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Electric, discussed the company’s strategy, being executed by Horizon Media’s Scout Sports & Entertainment unit, with SportsBusiness Journal’s Terry Lefton.
■ What are your marketing objectives?
HUMMEL: We’re a 25 billion-euro revenue company, but Schneider Electric is not a household name. So we’re looking at this as a platform that can deliver our brand message of sustainability and energy efficiency. We’re a major player in energy management, facility management, building management, lighting, so we’re looking at properties that can be a living showcase.
■ Is this a b-to-b or b-to-c play?
HUMMEL: You can find some of our products on the Grainger or Home Depot sites, so it’s a bit of both. Add the hospitality element a building allows and we can reach contractors, electricians, and even the general consumer will get to know our name. … We’re trying to make energy more efficient, more secure, more safe and more green. Within that, we are positioning ourselves as a technology partner that can deliver solutions for everything from cities to individual homes.
■ The energy category is getting crowded. How does this help you stand out?
HUMMEL: More broadly, the energy category has gotten noisier through the marketing efforts of the b-to-b and b-to-c energy suppliers, where branding has become an imperative. Now, as it becomes less of a commodity and more of a technology play, we are encountering new challengers and new partners. We’re getting into partnerships with Cisco, with Microsoft, which speaks to the fact that while you may not know it, Schneider Electric is also a multibillion-dollar software company. We’re more of a new category coming into sport and entertainment marketing and really participating as a vital technology provider, not just a financial partner.
■ How many more of these sorts of deals are coming?
HUMMEL: I won’t tell you we are about to start sponsoring the Olympics, but we are building long-term partnerships and we are looking for global partnerships, which is why the relationships we are forming here with AEG and MGM on a global level are important. So you will see us grow in a tempered way.
■ What will be the most important metrics in assessing this deal?
HUMMEL: We’ll look at reach, both in terms of broad measures and more specific targets. What’s also quite important is the ability to use this as a living reference and a solutions showcase. We’re also looking at this for content. The documentary story of how this gets built within the elements we will supply is content we can share around the world, and it’s a global showcase. So it’s as much a branding play as it is a business-generation play.
